I'm wondering what are good and healthy cat food brands. My one cat seems to have skin allergies which I'm not sure if they have anything to do with his diet so I would like a food that doesn't cause allergies and also without extra carbs to help my cats lose weight.
I've heard of Blue Buffalo but that's pretty expensive. Are there any other brands that are a bit cheaper or is that the price you have to pay for the best food brands?
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Hi!
JC answered your question spot on. Skin allergies are normally caused by food that is laden with cheap fillers such as corn and wheat. These fillers have caused a lot of distress in cats because they react wrongly in a cat's immune system, causing the body to attack them as foreign entities.
I am going to elaborate more on JC's answer here on how to correctly choose a healthy food for your cat and I hope I can help you decide what best to feed.
When you are choosing food, it is important for you to learn how to read ingredient labels. They tell you a lot about what kind of meat is being used and whether the food has any cheap fillers which does not benefit your cat.
You want to feed a food which is high protein - meaning the meat source must come from wholesome muscle meat. Make sure to select only food that list chicken, lamb, rabbit, beef, turkey, venison, salmon, whitefish, herring or a combination or those and not one that says by-products (chicken by product, meat by product, fish by product)
Stay away from too much fillers like corn, corn gluten meal, wheat, wheat gluten, soy, oatbrans, etc. These are all cheap filler which help reduce the cost of manufacturing but brings little to no benefit to your kitten.
You would also want to stay away from preservatives like BHA/BHT and Ethoxyquin which are proven to be harmful to your kitten. Also you do not want other artifical preservatives such as propylene glycol and propolyneglycol .You need natural preservatives such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A or Rosemary.
Your cat need an essential amino acid called Taurine. Cats can only receive this from eating wholesome meat. Choose a food that contains ample amount of Omega 3 sources - Salmon Oil, Flaxseed Oil or Canola Oil.
When you are well educated in learning how to read pet food ingredients, shopping for the best food for your kitten would be easier.
As I've mentioned above, quality cat food does come with a price. However, it all breaks down to a lot of savings in the long run. Feeding quality food means fewer trips to the vet. A cat on a quality diet is healthier and his immune system is better able to fight diseases.
I hope this helps!
J C
Often it's the corn that the cheaper foods are so laden with that cause the skin allergies, so switching to a food without corn is really a safe bet and a good move. The best foods are the ones like Blue Buffalo. Less expensive but still good is one called Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. Still less expensive would be Petsmart's Authority brand - decent food but budget priced.
Healthy cat foods are those without corn and by-products (not meat, all the scrap bits and parts that have been deemed unfit for human consumption). Putting good ingredients into cat food rather than scraps or corn will of course raise the price - chicken and steak cost more than hot dogs and boxed macaroni and cheese mix - same concept.
Anonymous
Try to get him on a recovery pet food such as Medi-cal that you can get from the vet office. It cost about 1.65$ Canadian. And you should help to syringe feed him. If you get the recovery pet food at the vet's office, put a spoonful of the wet food in a small bowl, put a little bit of water and mix it. Put the mixture into an oral syringe (you can ask at the pharmacy for an oral syringe). Feed him about 2 or 3cc (ml) every 2 hours. If you notice him not not vomitting. Feed him 4 cc (ml) every 3 hours. And then increase the amount to say 8cc every 4 hours. You won't be able to feed them all of the food at once, but stay with it. Also, when you feed with a syringe, wait say every 10 seconds before you put more into his mouth. General rule of thumb is, if your cat is 10lb, he needs about 80cc a day. You can also do the same with the yogurt on a syringe. Squirt a little bit at a time in the side of his mouth, not from the front. Do this until he is able to eat on his own. The recovery wet food is the best route to go because he's not getting enough nutrience, and he needs it in the time of his sickness.
Jorjor
I've fed Wellness,Felidae, Natures Variety(a favorite), blue buffalo as you mentioned, natural balance, etc.
ladystang
blue buffalo
nutro